Seal



Nov; 24, 1959 s. M. MOBERG 2,914,354

SEAL Filed Feb. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet z 1I \IVENTOR. S/wm M M05596 BYW ATTORNEY Nov. 24, 1959 s. M. MOBERG 2,914,354

SEAL

Filed Feb. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill/11 111114 INV EN TOR. 5/01/20M. MOB/5R6 :47 TOR/V6 V United States Patent 2,914,354 SEAL ApplicationFebruary 27, 1957, Serial No. 642,689

3 Claims. (Cl. 292-307) This invention relates to improved seals for usewith two separate, related elements or parts as, for example,

an article and a cover for the article, for holding the two elements orparts against separation without breakage of said seal. Although theinvention may be utilized with different types of related elements orparts, it is disclosed herein, for illustrative purposes, as employedwith covers of an electric meter and of a milk can without, however,limiting the invention to the particular uses and forms disclosed.

An important object of this invention is the provision of an inexpensiveseal which may be quickly applied and which cannot be manipulated topermit separation of scaled together elements or parts except bybreaking the seal.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary elevational view of the back of an electricmeter and a cover of the latter, illustrating an initial step inapplying a seal, according to a preferred embodiment of this invention,to the meter and cover for holding the latter against removal.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,illustrating an intermediate step in the application of the seal to themeter and cover.

Fig. 4 is a view, generally similar to Fig. 3, but showing the seal ascompletely applied to the meter and cover.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1, showing the seal,however, as completely applied.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the seal shown in Figs. 1-5inclusive.

Figs. 7 and 9 are perspective views of seals according to furtherembodiments of the invention.

Figs. 8 and 10 are sectional views, generally similar to Fig. 3, butshowing, respectively, the seals of Figs. 7 and 9, as completelyapplied.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a seal according to a still furtherembodiment of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary elevational View showing the seal of Fig. 11 asutilized for sealing a cover to a milk can.

Referring to the first embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 1-6, the seal 20comprises a flat piece of suitable sheet metal as, for example,aluminum, having a strip portion 22, preferably of substantially uniformwidth, having on its underside (appearing as the top side in Fig. 6) aScore or line of weakness 24, dividing the strip portion 22 into a mainor body portion 26 and a locking tongue 28. At the end of the sealopposite the tongue 28 is an integral head or tab 30 of greater widththan the strip portion 22. For reasons hereinafter explained, the score24 extends obliquely in relation to the strip portion 22 and the end ortip of the locking tongue 28 is rounded and formed with an upward bendas at 32.

The use of the seal on an electric meter in the manner illustrated inthe drawings is ordinarily for the purpose Patented Nov. 24, 1959 Q ofassuring that after assembly of the cover and the meter,

and prior to the installation of the meter for service, the cover maynot be removed without leaving evidence of that fact.

The meter cover commonly is in the form of a deep, circular, glass dish34 having rigidly fixed to its edge an annular metal band or collar 36preferably having three or more inwardly extending fastening lugs 38spaced equidistantly about said collar and adapted to effect abayonet-lock type of connection with peripheral lugs 40 integral with abody 42 of the meter. Assuming that the meter body 42 in Fig. 1 is heldstationary, the dish-like cover is moved into position over the meteruntil flange 44 of the glass dish abuts the meter body 42, as shown inFig. 4, when each lug 38 of the cover is in its position "of Fig. 1) ofits related lug 40. Then, by turning the cover in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, each lug 3S underlies and intimatelyengages its related lug 40 to hold the meter and its cover together.

It should be clear that a cover, applied to a meter in the manner justdescribed, cannot be removed from the meter unless the cover is turnedrevers'ely to bring each ing 38 back approximately to its indicatedbroken-line position with reference to its related lug 40 of the meter.Seals according to this invention operate on the principle of being soassociated with such a meter and cover that such .removal rotationcannot occur to any material extent without breaking the seal. It ispertinent, therefore, to observe the manner in which the seal isemployed with the meter and its cover.

When the meter and the cover are bayonet-locked together as described,an aperture 46 in a plate 48 welded to or otherwise rigidly securedinside the collar 36, is in radial alignment with a recess 50, anaperture 52 and a second recess 54 in the meter body 42, the latterrecess opening" at the bottom of the meter body. The collar 36 is cutaway to form a space 56 of the general shape and slightly larger thanthe tab 30, said space being in line with aperture 46. The recess 50may, but need not necessarily, be an open recess except that itcommunicates with both apertures 46 and 52. It may be observed thatrecess 54, advantageously, is circular in shape and, in the arrangementshown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, is of a diameter somewhat greater than thelength of locking tongue 28.

To seal the meter and its cover together, the strip portion 22,withtongue 28 in the lead, is manually inserted into and throughaperture 46, recess 50, and aperture 52, into recess 54. Continuedpushing of the seal inwardly causes the bent-up end 32 of the lockingtongue to engage a far surface of the side wall of recess 54 and bedeflected upwardly as may be understood from Fig. 3. This deflectionoccurs quite easily as the score 24 enables tongue 28 to pivot upwardlyin relation to main body portion 26 of the seal which remains flat. Thisdeformation of the seal permits its complete insertion to bring theinner end of portion 26 up against or quite near to the far side of thewall of recess 54and the tab 30 into engagement or close associationwith plate 48. Then the upstanding locking tongue 28 is manually folded,along the score 24, down and into recess 54 so that said tongue liesintimately upon an opposed part of body portion 26 of the seal with thetip of said tongue in stationary abutment with an adjacent portion ofthe side wall of said recess. Then, the tab 30 may be bent upwardly, asin Fig. 4, to nest into space At this point it is worthy of note that,because of the oblique disposition of the score 24, the tongue 28, inbeing applied to the meter and cover, bends to one side of body portion26 of the seal so that the end 32 of the tongue is substantially out ofalignment with aperture 52; and because of such malalignment, the tonguewill lie intimately upon the seals body portion despite the bend at theend of the tongue.

It should be apparent, from the facts that the seal extends throughapertures in both the meters body and the covers collar and cannot beshifted endwisely, that the cover cannot be separated from the meterunless the seal 20 is removed. It should also be evident that the sealcannot be removed without breaking it beyond possible reuse.

In its condition shown in Fig. 4, the seal cannot be pulled out becausethe locking tongue 28, being out of alignment with aperture 52, cannotbe withdrawn therethrough. If one were to try to bend the tongue 28upwardly to permit withdrawal of the seal, the presence of the score 24and attempted rebending thereat would almost certainly cause the tongue28 to break E at the score. If, perchance, that did not occur, it iscertain that further rebending, in an attempt to reuse the seal, wouldcause such breakage.

It follows, therefore, that once the cover is sealed to the meter by aseal, according to this invention, it could not be removed from andreplaced upon the meter without leaving evidence thereof unless, ofcourse, the person doing so possessed similar seals. And such similarseals ordinarily would not be available for unauthorized removal andreplacement of the cover. Thus, the presence of an unbroken seal on themeter is a good indication that the meter is in the same, presumablygood, condition that it was in when the seal was applied thereto.

It will be understood that, within this invention, the score 24 may benormal rather than oblique in relation to the seals body portion 26, inwhich case, however, the aperture 52 and probably also the aperture 46would have to be too narrow to permit the folded tongue 28 to passthrough said apertures without being bent substantially to its initialcondition as manufactured. This points up an advantage of the obliquedisposition of the score which causes the tongue 28 to bend out of linewith the aperture 52, one advantage being that the apertures 46 and 52may be quite large to permit easier application of the seal to the meterand its cover.

The second embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, differs from thefirst embodiment chiefly in that the score 24a is normal to the sealsbody portion 26a and the tongue 28a is longer, in fact long enough thatit may be bent to the shape shown in Fig. 8, when the seal is installed,so that a portion toward the free end of said tongue extends out ofrecess 54 and overlies a'portion of meter body 42 in the vicinity of theaperture 52.

Because of the increased length of tongue 28a, the aperture 52 may bequite large, despite the normal disposition of score 24a. Figs. 7 and 8suggest that, within this invention, a seal may be manufactured with tab30a or its equivalent already bent up. As with the first embodiment,bending and rebending at score 24a would cause the seal of the secondembodiment to break.

The third embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, differs from thefirst embodiment only in having ridges 58 and 60 pressed up,respectively, from the seals main portion 26b and the seals lockingtongue 28b. These ridges, which extend longitudinally of the parts 26band 28b, preferably on the same side face of the sheet metal as thescore 241), serve to strengthen the said parts and assure that bendingof the seal will be localized at said score when the seal is applied tothe meter. Obviously, the ridges 58 and 60 give such substantial'overallthickness to folded-together parts 26b and 28b that even if aperture 52is fairly large, the seal could not be withdrawn therethrough even ifscore 24b were normal rather than oblique.

The fourth embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12, includes featuresadapting the seal for use under special conditions as encountered, forexample, in sealing a cover upon a milk can. In this embodiment, thehead or tab 30c preferably is bent to an acute angle relatively to bodyportion 26c so that, when the seal is applied to a milk can and cover asshown in Fig. 12 with body portion 260 extending through an aperture 62in plug cover 64 of the milk can 66, the tab 30c will lie intimatelyagainst the angular skirt surface 68 of the cover.

As may be seen in Fig. 12, the body of the can 66 has a rolled top edge70. This condition together with the fact that aperture 62 may be quitelarge, even larger than illustrated, makes it desirable to adapt theseal for rapid application to the can and cover without materialinterference from the rolled edge 70. To this end, the body portion 26cand locking tongue 280 may be manufactured with bends 72 and 74 therein,respectively, so that as the seal is introduced through aperture 62, itsleading end, tongue 28c, will certainly pass the outer surface of therolled edge 70 and within and through a V-shaped strap 76 welded to thebody of the can 66. The fact that the tongue 280 is bent upwardly at itsfree end as at 32c, as with the other disclosed embodiments, alsocontributes to the facility with which the seal may be applied.

It may be noted that bend 72 also enables a lower part of body portion260 to extend in parallelism to the side surface of the can body andthat the bend 74 assures that, when application of the seal is completedby bending of the tongue 28c upwardly, as in Fig. 12, the end portion320 will lie close to the lower part of portion 26c, thereby reducingthe possibility that something might accidentally catch upon the tongue23c and cause unintended breaking of the seal.

In the fourth embodiment, a normal score 240 is provided, rather than anoblique score, and is shown as being at the inside rather than theoutside of a bend to be made thereat, although, within the invention,the score may be at either side of the seal.

Having in mind that seals according to this invention may be appliedthrough apertures considerably larger than the width of the bodyportions 26, 26a, 26b or 26c, but smaller than the heads or tabs 30etc., this invention contemplates that a pair of scores or lines ofweakness 78, 80 (Fig. 11) may be formed in such a head or tab, on eitheror both faces thereof, so that if an interloper sought to fold the sidesof such a head or tab over upon the center portion thereof to enable thetab to be pulled through an aperture in one of two sealed-togetherelements, one or both sides of the head or tab would break off, therebydefeating undetectable tampering.

The term score as used in this description and in the accompanyingclaims is intended to be interpreted broadly to cover not only a scorewhich forms a line of weakness but any type of line of weakness as, forexample, a line of perforations or of slits or of depressions formed inthe material of which the seal is made.

It should be understood that seals according to this invention may beused with different kinds of covers and articles than illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and that the cover need not necessarily be onewhich is applied or removed by turning it in the manner hereindescribed. The inventive concept, also, may be employed in various otherways than herein disclosed without, however, departing from theinvention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of an article, a cover for said article, and meansfor sealing said article and cover together, the combination comprisingportions of said article and cover defining alignable apertures, and anelongate sealing member having a main portion within both saidapertures, an abutment portion adjoining one end of the main portion andcoacting with an adjacent marginal portion defining one of saidapertures for limiting movement of the main portion endwisely into saidapertures in one direction and a locking tongue adjoining the oppositeend of said main portion, bendable relatively to the latter intosubstantially parallel relationship to said main portion, and saidlocking tongue, when thus bent, stationarily abutting, at its tip, anadjacent surface of a marginal portion defining the other of saidapertures, whereby to limit movement of the main portion endwisely inthe opposite direction within said apertures; said sealing member beingformed with a transverse line of Weakness at the juncture of said mainportion and said locking tongue, facilitating said bending of the latterbut inducing breakage upon repeated bending at said line of weakness.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said line of weakness beingoblique in relation to said sealing member whereby to cause the lockingtongue, upon such bending of the sealing member, to assume an obliquerelationsip to said main portion.

3. The combination of an article, a cover for said article, and meansfor sealing said article and cover together, the combination comprisingportions of said article and cover defining alignable apertures, and anelongate sealing member having a main portion within both saidapertures, an abutment portion adjoining one end of the main portion andcoacting with an adjacent marginal portion defining one of saidapertures for limiting movement of the main portion endwisely into saidapertures in one direction and a locking tongue adjoining the oppositeend of said main portion, bendable relatively to the latter intosubstantially parallel relationship to said main portion, and saidlocking tongue, when thus bent, stationarily abutting, at its tip, anadjacent surface of a marginal portion defining the other of saidapertures, whereby to limit movement of the main portion endwisely inthe opposite direction Within said apertures; said sealing member beingformed with a transverse line of weakness at the juncture of said mainportion and said locking tongue, facilitating said bending of the latterbut inducing breakage upon repeated bending at said line of weakness;said line of Weakness being oblique in relation to said sealing memberwhereby to cause the locking tongue, upon such bending of the sealingmember, to assume an oblique relationship to said main portion; an endportion of the locking tongue being bent out of the plane of theremainder of said tongue and said line of weakness being at the side ofsaid plane opposite to said bent-out end portion of the tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,017,837 Wood Feb. 20, 1912 1,240,719 Hosking Sept. 18, 1917 1,612,420Davis Dec. 28, 1926 1,615,057 Tyden Jan. 18, 1927 2,653,401 SutherlandSept. 29, 1953 2,772,109 Busch et al Nov. 27, 1956

